I Would Hate To See You Hurt
by Coffee-And-Valentines
Summary: After scrambling out of Rapture, Jack and Tenenbaum live with the sisters through many ups and downs. While both struggle with new problems encluding Vennie's hatred for Brigid, Ellie's schizophrenia and various other problems with the girls Jack and Brigid find that Rapture just won't leave them alone, and will it ever?


Jack stared at the peaceful valley stretching miles in front of him. The steady wind blew his hair out of his eyes and settled on the fabric of his sweater. He leaned back in the old chair, the bowing wood of the deck creeking softly under his weight. Jack's thoughts seemed to rage inside of his head, a little man with a jackhammer banging on his skull and kicking his eyesockets screamed at Jack for all his sins. He rested both elbows on his knees and cradled his pounding head.

He was just a machine, a slave, an experiment. He was programmed to fight, to kill, to feel no remorse.

But what was this little weight in his chest? This emptiness in his heart?

He was begining to regain memories, a white table and Tenenbaum's hair short. Suchong's glares of disapproval. He was begining to remember the pain of injections and then how everything altogether stopped hurting. He remembered the little labratory home. He remembered looking at Tenenbaum, studying the aging features of her face that seemed only to have been put their by guilt and greif. He rememberde Fontaine, the bastard that would come inside and sometimes call him 'son'.

The thought of Fontaine made him gag.

He wiped the pathetic few tears that had stained his cheeks and rubbed the soreness from his arms. They had only been on the surface for three days. He, Tenenbaum and the girls. Jack soaked in the sun, his pale complextion never changing the slightest. He enjoyed watching how happy all of the girls were. He had coffee with Tenenbaum and they had long, sometimes heated, sometimes tearful conversations. Jack was trying his hardest to heal, which was only possible in the presence of the girls and surprisingly also the presence of Tenenbaum, the very scientific genius who had created him.

It was at that moment that the three oldest girls came outside. Vennie was the oldest and most damaged of the girls, obviously because she remembered more of Rapture then the others and 3 days wasn't really enough to even attempt wiping away the images of blood ridden splicers and connections with Big Daddies. He wondered if she greived for those Daddies, but he couldn't ask. His voice box had been ripped to shreds when he'd turned himself into a Big Daddy.

Vennie was ten, and stood with slouched shoulders decorated by longer blonde hair. Blue eyes looked up at him and he held out his arms to embrace her. Vennie stayed by his side most of the day, not only because she still felt the need for protection but also because she was by far the most attached to him. He still remembered Vennie. He was in Arcadia where she was moping around the rollog hills and when he saved her she thanked him with more tears then she'd given her Daddy.

Amoung Vennie where the next oldest girls, Miana and Red. Red was a bundle of energy but had massive panic attacks due to this while Miana was sly and sneaky, probably the most mysterious of the girls. Both of them were seven.

The girls sat on the egde of the porch, exchanging words to quiet for even Jack - sitting three feet away from them - to hear.

"Jack," Vennie whispered beside him, "this place is beautiful." Jack nodded and touched the girl's soft hair. She wore a pari of green shorts and a black tank top, she was still twig skinny but was clean and wound-less. He gestured at the feild to say 'Go play' and the girl hesitated for a few minutes to long before stepping into the grass. She touched it with timid fingers and looked up at the sky with sorrowful wonder.

The door opened again and this time Nyra came stumbling out. She was five and the most playful of the girls, she seemed to either not care about Rapture, or just not fully inderstand it. She smiles at Jack and bounced off the porch, begging for Miana and Red to play with her.

Following Nyra came Tenenbaum, for the past three days the youngest of the girls, Ellie, had barely ever left Tenenbaum's arms. She was the youngest of the girls, barely three years old. She didn't talk often. but she smiled alot. She had a strong connection with Tenenbaum, and of all the girls she was the most likely to forget the terrors she'd seen.

Brigid Tenenbaum must have seemed older in Rapture, at the age of 32 she had appeared aged into her forties under the ocean in her safehouse. But here, in the surface and the sun she appeared not a year older then 25. 'Angry lines' were still barely visible on her skin but with the three year old clutching her shoulders her greif and anger seemed to vanish temporarily.

Of course he knew better.

Brigid sat in the chair next to him with Ellie on her lap and watched as Vennie picked a white daisy and the other three girls followed her. She looked at Jack and as if she was reading his mind said exactly what he was thinking.

"You vill find yourself healing Jack. The girls look to you as a father. I think any man strong as you vill see that one day you'll be happy again." Tenenbaum had cut her hair short again, and when she set Ellie down the girl looked up at her with emerald eyes and pouted. "Go play vith the flowers little one." She ran fingers through the girl's dark hair and watched her stumble off the porch into the yard. "You are angry with me no?"

Jack was only a little angry with Tenenbaum, he ciould not change what she'd done. She would change what she'd done of she could and she had apologized to him many times on the brinck of tears. Only on the brinck though, Brigid could not stand crying she never allowed herself to be caught in a vunerable state of mind.

He signed to her '_I am not angry with you, I am not angry. I am remorseful and in that essence I have forgiven you.' _

"Und for that I am grateful." She smiled only a half smile, "I probably do not deserve your forgiveness. I still vill not forgive myself."

_'Maybe you should, that is the first step to healing.' _

Before Tenenbaum could answer Vennie and the other girls came to the porch. Unlike the other girls, Vennie still had an anger towards Tenenbaum and she walking inside without aknowledging her.

The girls had many years of healing to endure, so did Jack and Brigid.

He looked out at the calming feild, only after the forestry had burned down could it overcome the metamorphoses into something extradorinary.


End file.
